


aftermath

by orphan_account



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22048324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After HADES is gone, Aloy and Erend have a conversation that needs to be had.
Relationships: Aloy & Erend (Horizon: Zero Dawn)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29
Collections: HZD Secret Santa 2019





	aftermath

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cherie_Berrie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cherie_Berrie/gifts).



The smoke rises up from the city. Meridian is still on fire – even though HADES is gone and the army of Eclipse are defeated, the fire cannot know this. Aloy ranges from one smouldering machine to another, checking that they’re truly destroyed. The last thing she needs right now is for some machine to get up and try to do something else with HADES. She wants this nightmare to be over.

“Aloy!”

Aloy looks over to where the Nora and the Oseram are gathered together. Those remaining, at least. Everything was rushed when she came up the cliff, the red of HADES pulsing overhead, but she hasn’t seen at least half of the Nora, and Erend only had one other Oseram with him when they went over the wall.

All the machines are truly destroyed, so she lets herself breathe out. She’s still careful as she picks her way across the battlefield. The ground is torn up and there are bits and pieces of metal lying everywhere, glinting in the low light. The spire has stopped glowing, and Aloy is glad of that normalcy. She’s not sure how much more she can take right now.

“Is everyone alright?” she asks as she reaches the group. Sona is on the ground, a bandage around her leg already stained red with blood. There is a body just beyond the group, Nora paint on his face. Erend and Varl are standing over Sona, with two other braves and Erend’s other Oseram friend.

“All of us that are still standing,” Varl says grimly. “But we’ve taken heavy causalities.”

“It’ll be worse down in the city,” Erend says. “I should get down there as soon as I can. Farlow, go ahead and see if there’s anything you can do to help. I’ll clean up here a little and then head after you.”

“Yes sir!”

The other Oseram turns on his heel and heads towards the path. Aloy grimaces as she remembers the state it had been in when she had climbed up it. Maybe the Oseram are more agile then she thinks. Or maybe all of them will be trapped up here until some rope or a ladder can be found.

“How are you? Hurt?” Erend asks her.

Aloy stretches out her arms, checking over for anything serious. There’s a burn on the back of her hand, and her skin has small shallow cuts all over it. There’s a deeper ache in her bones that lets her know that she’s going to wake up bruised tomorrow.

“I’m still standing,” she says, and Erend’s smile feels like it should light up the entire area.

“That’s my girl,” he says fondly.

“Do you need anything?” Aloy asks Varl.

He shakes his head. “No, we can deal with everything here ourselves. You should go down to the city.” He smiles slightly. “I know you well enough to know that nothing would keep you away, anyway.”

“Ha. Maybe.” Aloy looks at Erend. “Will you come with me?”

“Of course,” Erend says, sounding almost insulted that she had to ask. “Let’s go!”

Aloy falls into step beside him as they head for the wall and the path.

“The path was kind of… destroyed,” Aloy tells him. “How good are you at climbing?”

Erend winces slightly. “It’s not one of my strong suits. All this armour doesn’t make me very flexible.”

Aloy surveys him from head to toe. There’s a large gash in his armour at the shoulder, and the leather is blackened slightly from the blow that was dealt there. Several of his metal studs are missing, and his helmet is gone. There’s smoke all over his face, except for on the side of his forehead where he’s obviously rubbed a hand. But she can’t see any blood, even though she’d seen him taking a few hits in the fight.

“No, you don’t look very flexible,” she says after another few seconds. When they reach the part of the path that fell out, Erend makes a low sound of annoyance. From this angle, the drop looks even more severe and the jump from one pillar to the next almost seems impossible. She made it up here though, and she’s sure that she can make it back down.

“I’m going to have to wait,” Erend says. He points at a pile of armour that’s been abandoned at the side of the path. “Farlow is an elevator monkey – he could have made it down this. He’ll know that I’m stuck up here and he’ll be finding some way for me to get down. But until then, I have to stay.”

Aloy looks out towards the city. Meridian is still burning, though it’s contained by the river that runs its course around it.

“Aloy,” Erend says. He wraps one hand around her upper arm, and Aloy looks up at him. “I know you have to go. It’s in your nature – Varl was right. I’m not going to stop you. Just tell Avad that I’m okay when you see him, alright?”

“I will,” Aloy promises. “Erend, we couldn’t have done this without you. _I_ couldn’t have done this without you.”

He looks away. “Well, I don’t think I’m all that. Just a guy with a job to do.”

“You stepped up,” Aloy says, sensing a crack in his armour. His self-confidence was never great, but this might be a chance to steady the foundations of it slightly – it might be the only chance she gets. She likes Erend, but she doesn’t know if their paths will continue together after this. “You looked at the job, you knew it was going to be hard, that you might die, and you still did it. That’s what great people are made of, Erend.”

She’s close enough that she can see the slightly blush make its way over his cheeks. “Thanks, Aloy. That means a lot to me.”

She wavers, torn between the city and the man standing in front of her. “You mean a lot to me, Erend,” she says. “And you should believe in yourself. Because I believe in you.”

He blinks rapidly, but lets her go when she pulls away. She runs and makes the first jump, hanging onto the ledge with her fingertips. As she rounds the corner, she sees Erend standing on the edge, looking after her. She lifts her hand in a wave, and he waves back. She can see the lines of his shoulders moving in a laugh.

Smiling, she edges her way around the first pillar. She still has work to do.


End file.
